Airline flight safety: 1982 reviewed
Last year was not as safe as 1981. During
1982 there were 33 fatal airline accidents
in which 1,010 people are known to have
died. But there is no alarming trend: the
figures have been hovering not far from
the 30 accidents/1,000 fatalities level for
many years.
If there is a detectable trend over the
last four years it has been a gradual in
crease in the number of accidents in
volving a few deaths only, and a
decrease in serious accidents involving
large aeroplanes and large numbers of
fatalities. Last year there were at
least 14 fatal accidents from which
This Flight review, by David Learmount, is the first major
compilation of 1982 accident and incident data for the world's air
transport fleet. It includes all reported fatal accidents and a selec
tion of non-fatal incidents which reflect current airline operating
experience. Compilation by Terry Harland.
there were some survivors, and the annual
statistics show particularly clearly how, in
a serious accident, the larger the aircraft
the more likely there are to be some sur
vivors. See the leader page for further
comment on the safety results during last
year.
Accident data have been gathered from Flight's own sources and from the UK Civil Aviation Authority's World
Airline Accident Summary
•We have received some criticism of our policy of publish ing those non-fat&i incidents we learn about, because
information on this kind of incident is not normally available in many parts of the world. But we intend to
continue to publish them because airlines tell us there is much to be learned from those relatively few we publish.
We accept that our incidents list is weighted unfairly against British and US airlines because news of their
problems is more readily accessible.
FATAL ACCIDENTS: SCHEDULED PASSENGER FLIGHTS
Date Carrier Aircraft Location
Total
Fatalities Occupants
Crew Pass Crew Pass Phase Circumstance
Jan 13 Air Florida
World Airways DC-10(N113WA) Logan International,
Boston
Jan 23
have
Jan 25 Tarom An-24(YR-BMD) Constantza
Feb 9 Japan Air Lines DC-8-61 (JA-8061) Tokyo Bay
Mar 20
Mar 26
Apr 26
May 9
May 25
Jun 8
Jun 12
Jun 22
July 6
July 9
July 11
Aug 16
Sept 30
Dec 24
Garuda
Indonesian
Aerospesca
CAAC
Alyemda
VASP
VASP
Taba Airlines
Air-India
Aeroflot
Pan Am
Philippines
Airlines
China Airways
Aeroflot
CAAC
4 22 4 24
22 22
8 104 8 104
737(N62AF) Washington 4 70 5 74 T/O Failed to climb after take-off in snow and severe icing conditions.
National Hit bridge over Potomac River and sank in the water.
2 12 196 L Overran end of icy runway and came to rest in shallow water
where the cockpit section separated. Two passengers
have still not been found.
3 4 ? 1 ? Airport buildings and equipment damaged. Aircraft destroyed.
24 8 166 RA Pilot error caused aircraft to lose height and land among the ap
proach lighting in shallow water. Captain remanded for
psychiatric checks.
L Overran runway after landing in heavy rain. Impact caused severe
fire.
? Hit mountain during rainstorm, impact at 7,700ft.
AA Aircraft hit mountain in heavy rain.
47 49 RA Crashed into sea during rainstorm, with one mile to go on finals.
L Hit runway hard and broke in two during rainstorm.
AA Crashed into 2,500ft hill on approach to Pinto Martins Airport.
Technical problems reported before starting approach.
RA Aircraft hit an airport parking area illumination mast and crashed
on to the airport in very poor visibility.
L Overran runway at Bombay Airport in monsoon, hit ditch, and
hull broke into three sections.
T/O Crashed soon after T/0. Believed to have been uncontained
engine failure.
T/O Crashed soon after taking off into an area of thunderstorm
activity. Severe turbulence/windshear probable cause.
T/O Aircraft overran runway and hit concrete wall following problem
with No 2 engine. Captain said water meth was cutting in and
out.
ER Severe turbulence. Nineteen passangers injured. Aircraft un
damaged. Seatbelt sign was on but some pax were not secure.
L Skidded from runway following asymmetric brake malfunction.
Pilot reported asymmetric reverse thrust also.
23 69 AA Forced landing after smoke started in rear fuselage. Plane burst
into flames on landing. Suspected electrical fault.
F.28(PK-GVK)
Viscount
(HK-2382)
Trident 2E
(B-266)
Dash 7 (70-ACK)
Boeing 737
(PP-SMY)
Boeing 727
(PP-SRK)
FH.227B(PT-LBV)
Boeing 707
(VT-DJJ)
II-62
Boeing 727-100
(N4737)
HS.748(RP-1014)
Boeing 747
II-62
11-18
Brami Airport
Sumatra
Queate,
Colombia
Yangsu, nr
Guilin
Aden
Brasilia Airport
Fortaleza
Tabatinga,
Brazil
Bombay
Moscow
New Orleans
Jolo Airport,
Philippines
Nr. Hong Kong
Luxembourg
2
128
40
17
approx 90
138
3
2
7
7
7
4
12
7
4
?
11
112
128
40
99
90
138
25
292
67
Baiyun Airport,
Canton
FATAL ACCIDENTS: NON-SCHEDULED PASSENGER FLIGHTS
Date Carrier Aircraft Location
Total
Fatalities Occupants
Crew Pass Crew Pass Phase Circumstance
Feb 9
Sept 13
Nov 29
Trans Air
Service
Spantax
TAAG-Linhas
Aereas de
Angola
DC-3(RP-C141)
DC-IO(EC-DEG)
Antonov
An-26
Mount Ipao, 2
Panay Island
Malaga 3
Angola
1 32 ER Hit mountain
48 393 T/O Take off aborted after Vi because of severe vibration owing to
failure of nose landing gear tyres. Aircraft overran runway,
struck several hard objects, and caught fire.
all on board ? AA Crashed into hillside in bad weather.
T/O Take-off; C Climb; ER En route; AA Airfield approach; RA Runway approach; L Landing; G On ground.
FLIGHT International, 22 January 1983 205